I heard Ken Robinson speak while he was in Portland. The man is so busy, I think he’s too busy to even think about the tribe he’s leading.

Do Apostles have tribes? Now that’s a whole other conversation!

@Lain – Yes to tailoring to the medium! And next time someone balks about social media, I’m going to point them to Oakland Cemetery. I mean, if a cemetery can tweet… And your blog is awesome.

@David – The thunder? Results, baby. Loud, booming results.

@Victoria – Genius comments about cliques. Are you going to write that post or shall I? Wanna guest post?

@Tamara – How’d it go?

@Deb – You make such an interesting point. Most people I know, me included, get sucked in for a while when they get started. That’s another reason I usually wait a while before pulling the plug on a connection. We can all learn!

And I love your new thing, btw!

@Sue – What a great synopsis of a tribe – common goals, chance to share and a brand identity. Congrats on the puppy!
.-= Laurie Foley´s last blog ..Are You Leading a Tribe or Boring a Crowd? =-.

I got a puppy over the winter and now we go to the dog park every day. Dog owners are great people and I feel like they are my “tribe”. It’s a great feeling to have other people know what you are going thru (housebreaking!) and to see people that only know you as “Winnie’s Mom”.
Sue

I had a ‘social media marketing guru’ who’s pretty ‘famous’ in those circles let me know in no uncertain terms that if we thought we were above it all and not in high school anymore, we were wrong — that that was exactly what it was about. (This was right before the same person let us all know they were looking for people prone to ‘cult-following’ as ‘perfect clients’ — and neither one of those things describes me so I opted out.)

There are a lot of great people out there. And even some of those ‘carnival barkers’ send out inspiring messages every day so I keep them around. But yeah. I set out to do something more than just gather stats to impress other people I don’t even know. I got a little sucked into it and off track for a while, but I’ve ‘course-adjusted’

Love this post! Thanks!
d

I cringe every time I hear the word “tribe”… because more often then not it feels synonymous with “clique”. While intentions may be good when forming these partnerships, as I watch these “tribes” grow, their exclusiveness becomes off-putting.

I think the marking of a great leader comes with the ability to find that balance between clique and mob – by providing a resource to their specific market that does not feel cold and totally sales-driven AND does not feel über-exclusive.

I often wonder if that grade school clique mentality never quite leaves us, especially in the “fempreneur” world. I would say that it is very important for online marketers to step back and look at how they come across to those outside their tribe… Are you welcoming to new people? Do you engage everyone equally? Do you mark some members as lower priority? Do you view your tribe as dollar signs?

If you are really out there to help people do whatever it is you specialize in, be cautious not to let that clique mentality take over.

So I have to ask if “creative is the lightning” what’s the thunder?
.-= David Cohen´s last blog ..Right Brain resurgent =-.

I feel like if you’ve got a strong human voice and a reasonable cause, it’s difficult not to lead. If you’re tweeting from an automated process, it’s hard not to bore people. That better be one smooth talkin’ automated process if you’re expecting people to follow.

Our organization cross-posts the same content all over the place, but each time we adopt the language of that particular medium or the crowd. What we say on Twitter will be different from what we say on Facebook, but since it’s a tailored message it’s almost always more effective than a general presentation. Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta is a great example of an organization doing the same.

I posted my first book review on Amazon in 1997. For a brief, shining moment, I was in the top 100 of reviewers (I believe there were only 100 people reviewing at the time). I was so jazzed! Me! Top 100! I checked back several times each day to see if I had risen in the rankings. I scrutinized #1 and #2 to see how I could pick them off.

I was obsessed with numbers.

And numbers don’t mean squat. Someone could review 1000 books and do a half-assed job – but on sheer numbers, they dominate.

Same thing with Twitter, FB and LinkedIn. We’ve gotten in an out-of-control arms race – he with the most followers win. But if you have 60,000 followers and no one buys anything, or hires you, they are useless.

You could have 30 raving fans who buy everything you sell and hire you repeatedly, and you would have a great business.

It’s quality, not quantity, that matters. It’s authenticity, not robo-tweets. It’s connection, not a drive-by.

Thanks, Laurie. Now, to go un-friend some people.

– Michele
.-= Michele Woodward´s last blog ..Your New Yardstick =-.